Why I am Not Boycotting Twitter Today

by Karen

A few months ago there was a study that was published that said that young black girls were more likely to be considered sexual beings moreso than their white counterparts.

Earlier this week, Jemele Hill a black sportscaster at ESPN was suspended because she spoke the truth about the current resident of the White House, Donald Trump and his rantings regarding players in the NFL who are protesting police brutality in the US by kneeling during the national anthem.

Closer to home in tennis, Maria Sharapova in her published autobiography described Serena Williams in very caustic terms, relying on the usual stereotyping of black women by talking about her arms and legs and how intimidating she was and how Sharapova felt like a little girl when facing Serena across the net.

Last year, Leslie Jones, an American comedian and actress was the victim of a vicious social media smear campaign organized by so called white supremacists. It got to the point where Ms. Jones had to suspend her Twitter account because of the abuse.

Again last year in India there were multiple reports of young women being raped and sometimes murdered, some as young as 9 and 10 years old.

Why am I bringing up all these incidents on a tennis blog? I am bringing them up because earlier this week it was reported that Harvey Weinstein of the Weinstein Company had been accused of sexual harassment to the point where he had reached agreement with multiple women as a result of his systemic abuse of them. Rose McGowan (of Charmed fame) has been on Twitter on a daily basis calling out Hollywood and asking everyone to stand up and be counted regarding Weinstein’s sexual harassment and abuse. As a result of Ms. McGowan’s stance, or as Twitter has said, as a result of her abusing Twitter’s terms of service, her account was suspended ostensibly because she had included a telephone number in a tweet. Her account has now been reopened.

As a result of what has happened to Ms. McGowan, there has been a rallying cry for Women to Boycott Twitter. As someone has said where was this movement when Jemele Hill was being targeted by the White House to the point where she is on the verge of losing her job? Where was this movement when Maria Sharapova vilified Serena Williams’ body and where was this movement when young girls were being raped and murdered in India?

Is it the case that the only time that white women (yes I am calling them out by name) see the damage that is being done to the rest of society is when it affects them? I don’t live in the US but I have friends and family who live there. The decisions that white women have made have impacted the lives of many people who are not as well off or as educated as white women. When 53% of white women watch a man speak loudly and clearly as Donald Trump did about taking what women have with no questions asked and still went into a voting booth and voted for him, telling people to boycott social media because you are oppressed makes me want to throw up.

Most of my family and friends are black. Most of them are immigrants. None of them are wealthy people. They are all hard working people who see the US as the land of opportunity. Those of my friends who are born in the USA are proud to be Americans but again they are also oppressed by a system that marginalizes them and makes victims out of them.

From where I sit, white women have not spoken out against what is happening to many other women of colour in the US. They have not been at the forefront at the fight for equality and they have surely not stood up for those women who are unable to defend themselves.

When Ilie Nastase made his racist joke about the colour of Serena Williams’ baby, everyone from the WTA to journalists all over spoke out definitively about how racist he was. The WTA and ITF took action and banned him. When Sharapova writes a book speaking derogatively about Serena Williams’ so much so that Serena had to write a letter to her mother opining about it and thanking her mother to give her the strength to deal with these kinds of comments about her body, I don’t recall seeing many white women (or a lot of other women) in tennis media speak out against that.

I read Joel Drucker’s piece recently where he reviewed Sharapova’s book. In the almost 5,000 word count article, he did not once call out Sharapova for her racist comments about Serena’s body and why would he when the organisation with whom he works has basically been singing Sharapova’s praises since she returned from a doping ban.

Lest anyone thinks that I do not sympathise with Rose McGowan. I do. As a survivor myself I can speak to how hard it is to come out and do battle against those who would do us harm as women. I have used my voice to give voice to those of us who don’t have a voice. I have volunteered at shelters for women who are the victims of sexual abuse and I have used my platform at a law firm to secure legal services for women who are the victims of domestic abuse etc.

My preference would be that in the same way that white women can rally around a cause when they can identify with its victims, they should rally around a cause when they can’t identify with the victims.

When championing a cause don’t wait until you see a victim that looks like you, speaks like you, travel in your own social circles etc. Look for a victim who doesn’t look like you, whose story is one that you could never imagine relating to and look for a victim whose cause is just, even if you can’t imagine seeing yourself in those shoes.

I will not be boycotting Twitter today. I did that yesterday. Until every victim is treated equally, and to coin a phrase #AllVictimsMatter then unfortunately no victims will matter.

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Published by overheadspin

Tennis fanatic, but mostly women's tennis ... scratch that I am all about women's tennis. House Stark. Loves reading, cooking and frankly love watching tennis. Listens to Alanis Morrisette every chance I get
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